Poll of the Day > Trump deals devastating blow to renewable energy by imposing tariffs on solar

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://time.com/5113472/donald-trump-solar-panel-tariff/

In the biggest blow hes dealt to the renewable energy industry yet, President Donald Trump decided on Monday to slap tariffs on imported solar panels.

The U.S. will impose duties of as much as 30 percent on solar equipment made abroad, a move that threatens to handicap a $28 billion industry that relies on parts made abroad for 80 percent of its supply. Just the mere threat of tariffs has shaken solar developers in recent months, with some hoarding panels and others stalling projects in anticipation of higher costs. The Solar Energy Industries Association has projected tens of thousands of job losses in a sector that employed 260,000.

The tariffs are just the latest action Trump has taken that undermine the economics of renewable energy. The administration has already decided to pull the U.S. out of the international Paris climate agreement, rolled back Obama-era regulations on power plant-emissions and passed sweeping tax reforms that constrained financing for solar and wind. The import taxes, however, will prove to be the most targeted strike on the industry yet.

Developers may have to walk away from their projects, Hugh Bromley, a New York-based analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in an interview before Trumps decision. Some rooftop solar companies may have to pull out of some states.

U.S. panel maker First Solar Inc. jumped 9 percent to $75.20 in after-hours trading in New York. The Tempe, Arizona-based manufacturer stands to gain as costs for competing, foreign panels rise. First Solar didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. The Solar Energy Industries Association also didnt immediately respond.

The first 2.5 gigawatts of imported solar cells will be exempt from the tariffs, Trump said in a statement Monday. The president approved four years of tariffs that start at 30 percent in the first year and gradually drop to 15 percent.

The duties are lower than the 35 percent rate the U.S. International Trade Commission recommended in October after finding that imported panels were harming American manufacturers. The idea behind the tariffs is to raise the costs of cheap imports, particularly from Asia, and level the playing field for those who manufacture the parts domestically.

For Trump, they may represent a step toward making good on a campaign promise to get tough on the country that produces the most panels China. Trumps trade issues took a backseat in 2017 while the White House focused on tax reform, but its now coming back into the fore: The solar dispute is among several potential trade decisions that also involve washing machines, consumer electronics and steel.

Its the first opportunity the president has had to impose tariffs or any sort of trade restriction, Clark Packard, a trade policy expert at the R Street Institute in Washington, said ahead of the decision. Hes kind of pining for an opportunity.

Trumps solar decision comes almost nine months after Suniva Inc., a bankrupt U.S. module manufacturer with a Chinese majority owner, sought import duties on solar cells and panels. It asserted that it had suffered serious injury from a flood of cheap panels produced in Asia. A month later, the U.S. unit of German manufacturer SolarWorld AG signed on as a co-petitioner, adding heft to Sunivas cause.

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An attorney for Solarworld didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Suniva had sought import duties of 32 cents a watt for solar panels produced outside the U.S. and a floor price of 74 cents a watt.

While Trump has broad authority on the size, scope and duration of duties, the dispute may shift to a different venue. China and neighbors including South Korea may opt to challenge the decision at the World Trade Organization which has rebuffed prior U.S.-imposed tariffs that appeared before it.

Lewis Leibowitz, a Washington-based trade lawyer, expects the matter will wind up with the WTO. Nothing is very likely to stop the relief in its tracks, he said before the decision. Its going to take a while.

The solar industry may also attempt a long-shot appeal to Congress.

Trump wants to show hes tough on trade, so whatever duties or quotas he imposes will stick, whatever individual senators or congressmen might say, Gary Hufbauer, a Washington-based senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said by email before the decision.

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Part of how the West came to dominate the world was relatively unrestricted scientific advancement following the dark ages. This is what causes dark ages.
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plebian move from a true dumpass
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Needed a title with more gravitas, like

"American Demagogue Taxes The Sun!"
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**** that guy
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Lokarin posted...

Needed a title with more gravitas, like

"American Demagogue Taxes The Sun!"

Honestly, you're writing better than any Late Night show with that one!
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ReturnOfFa posted...

Lokarin posted...

Needed a title with more gravitas, like

"American Demagogue Taxes The Sun!"

Honestly, you're writing better than any Late Night show with that one!

Not hard since Conan quit
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Given that it can help US-based manufacturers (especially since US-based manufacturers were specifically petitioning for it), it's just shifting production. Granted, US workers were making money on installation regardless so it's not like China's government-backed production was costing all the jobs.

China routinely undercuts Western companies through unfair trade practices. You're able to buy products for *less* than what it should cost to have them shipped in some cases, which is good for consumers up until they no longer have jobs because their employers have gone bankrupt.

TheCyborgNinja posted...

Part of how the West came to dominate the world was relatively unrestricted scientific advancement following the dark ages. This is what causes dark ages.

...what? Just... what?
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Zeus posted...

...what? Just... what?

It's something that Aron Ra said - I'll link it, if I remembered the correct video: (quote starts at about 2:30)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrDTaHjg2IQ
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He's thinking one step ahead of you plebs, we have to conserve our usage of the sun for future generations.
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I'd like to point out that under the principal of Taxation with Representation - taxes raised would have to go into the Sun.
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Zeus posted...

Given that it can help US-based manufacturers (especially since US-based manufacturers were specifically petitioning for it), it's just shifting production. Granted, US workers were making money on installation regardless so it's not like China's government-backed production was costing all the jobs.

China routinely undercuts Western companies through unfair trade practices. You're able to buy products for *less* than what it should cost to have them shipped in some cases, which is good for consumers up until they no longer have jobs because their employers have gone bankrupt.

TheCyborgNinja posted...

Part of how the West came to dominate the world was relatively unrestricted scientific advancement following the dark ages. This is what causes dark ages.

...what? Just... what?

He is stifling innovation with measures to protect outdated industries that are better left to die and be replaced. Not just with this, but with all of his other anti-science bullshit... Trump is literally pulling a "Weekend at Bernie's" on an industry level.
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TheCyborgNinja posted...

Zeus posted...

Given that it can help US-based manufacturers (especially since US-based manufacturers were specifically petitioning for it), it's just shifting production. Granted, US workers were making money on installation regardless so it's not like China's government-backed production was costing all the jobs.

China routinely undercuts Western companies through unfair trade practices. You're able to buy products for *less* than what it should cost to have them shipped in some cases, which is good for consumers up until they no longer have jobs because their employers have gone bankrupt.

TheCyborgNinja posted...

Part of how the West came to dominate the world was relatively unrestricted scientific advancement following the dark ages. This is what causes dark ages.

...what? Just... what?

He is stifling innovation with measures to protect outdated industries that are better left to die and be replaced. Not just with this, but with all of his other anti-science bullshit... Trump is literally pulling a "Weekend at Bernie's" on an industry level.

Except he's literally doing nothing of the sort. The actual innovation *isn't* at the point of manufacturing, which is literally the point that China is handling. For the most part, the innovation has happened in countries like the US and then the production has either started domestic then gotten outsourced or the designs are outright stolen by other nations. Among all the world's nations, few countries are as bad when it comes to IPs as China

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34324252

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/car-culture/its-a-knock-off-chinas-copycat-cars-at-the-2015-shanghai-motor-show/

And by allowing companies to take the fruits of innovation then undercut the innovators, you are STIFLING innovation. Inventors need to see the fruits of their labor in order to keep inventing.

More importantly, it's not even just a case of China is doing it cheaper because they don't have our labor standards or safety standards, but their government actively subsidizes their manufacturing sector. Which, by the way, are things Trump promised to crack down on.... but he hasn't. Not until now and even that is a small measure.
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If this can do what it intends and get us making better quality panels in the US then thatll be great. Some Chinese manufacturers are notorious for creating shoddy products and ignoring environmental and health regulations

This could easily backfire though and discourage people from gradually moving towards alternative forms of energy, which would cause development to stagnate and put us behind many other countries
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The important point is imported solar panels.

This allows power to be taken from China when their economy is based on vast mass-production of established products, not releasing innovative technologies. Of course if other countries do innovate then it's still not banned so the US can still bring the technology inbound and produce domestically.

Seeing as there's tonnes of shit land in the US, it makes sense to keep industry inland.
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